Digital transformation has upended the global remittance market, thereby pressuring consumer pricing, reshaping the competitive battlefield, and creating new playbooks for traditional money transfer operators.

• This year’s $794.54 billion in remittances are a lifeline to migrant families and low-income economies. These inflows from about 280 million global migrants represent an annual average of around $2,838 per family. And the dollars make a difference back home, too: Remittance inflows comprised 10% or more of GDP in 27 countries in 2021—and 25% or more in eight of them.
• Remittance volume continues to climb. From 2018 to 2024, inflows are expected to grow at an average rate of 3.5%, just below the 4.4% pace of average global GDP. And methods such as carrying cash to the destination or transferring via an unlicensed service—which are not included in our forecast—provide at least another $278 billion in untapped opportunity.
• But providers face an uphill battle to capture user revenues. We estimate that in 2023, the industry will net revenues of $37.18 billion in fees consumers pay to send money. Global regulatory pressure to decrease those costs has helped drive pricing downward for more than a decade. If prices had stayed on par with 2020 rates, providers would have netted an additional $3 billion globally in 2023.

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